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This hockey fan asked for a kidney on a homemade sign during a game and found a match

VIDEO: Hockey fan's homemade sign found her kidney donor
2:13
Hockey fan's homemade sign found her kidney donor
ABCNews.com
ByNicole Pelletiere
November 21, 2018, 9:19 am

One hockey fan's homemade sign ultimately saved her life after she used it to ask strangers for a kidney donation.

Kelly Sowatsky, 31, was desperately in need of a kidney. So last April she took matters into her own hands at a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game.

VIDEO: Hockey fan's homemade sign found her kidney donor
VIDEO: Hockey fan's homemade sign found her kidney donor
ABCNews.com

"I thought this was my last chance to get the attention of somebody in a really big way," Sowatsky told "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.

Sowatsky created a sign that said, "Calling all hockey fans! I need a kidney! Gratefully yours, Kelly," along with a phone number.

The Penguins tweeted a photo of Sowatsky holding the sign and it soon went viral.

The tweet caught the attention of fellow Penguins fan Jeff Lynd, who reached out to Sowatsky on Facebook.

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"I saw desperation, I saw courage and I saw she needed help," Lynd told "GMA." "I knew that my blood type matched. I had this feeling it was something I just had to do."

Sowatsky and Lynd, who happen to also be teachers, met and were indeed a match.

Two weeks ago, Dr. Amit Tevar performed the life-saving surgery at UPMC Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"Jeff had an excellent kidney to donate," Tevar told "GMA." "Kelly should do very well for a very, very long time with that kidney."

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